Passing by Baiyun County, Visiting Relatives

[Sporting two tufts of red hair, you arrived at the Yuelai Inn.]

[This time, the landlady was still alive and well.]

[Because this time, there was no demonic martial artist wielding the Ten Thousand Souls Banner to murder her relatives.]

[Obviously, your interception of Old Liu's Ten Thousand Souls Banner had changed the fates of many.]

[Da Chun was still working as a waiter at the Yuelai Inn.]

[He was very happy to see you.]

[Da Chun was always like this, carefree, whether he was suffering or enjoying life.]

[Seeing that he was still plump and fair, and dressed decently, you knew the landlady had never mistreated him.]

[You gave the landlady a sum of money as a token of gratitude.]

[The landlady grinned from ear to ear, exclaiming that Da Chun had also helped her a lot over the years.]

[You thought about how in three years, an Empress would forcefully rise in the Southern Frontier and launch a counterattack against the Central Plains.]

[As Qingzhou was a province in the southern part of the Central Plains, it would bear the brunt of the war when the time came, so you reminded the landlady.]

["I came from the south. The current situation between the Southern Frontier and the Central Plains is unstable, and war might break out. If you hear any bad news, remember to flee north so you won't be caught in the crossfire."]

[Afterward, you went to your Third Sister's home.]

[To your surprise, the small courtyard belonging to your Third Sister's family was now occupied by strangers.]

[Seeing your aura of pure Yang righteousness, equipped with both a long spear and a longsword, the other party realized at a glance that you were not to be trifled with, so they answered whatever you asked.]

[From them, you learned that they had bought the courtyard. The original owner had fallen on hard times and sold it. As for where the original owner lived now, they had no idea.]

[You headed straight for the county magistrate's office.]

[Thirty years ago, you provided intelligence to Zhang Miao, a Demon Slaying Captain of the commandery's Demon Slaying Department, uncovering the dark secret of collusion between officials and demons in Baiyun County.]

[The imperial court took this matter very seriously; they executed a batch of bureaucrats in Baiyun County and replaced the rest.]

[You found out that Feng Yucheng was still at large to this day, his fate unknown.]

[You walked into the county magistrate's office once again. This time, you weren't here to cause a scene, but simply to ask the magistrate to help look up where your Third Sister currently lived.]

[You prepared to slightly reveal your Soul Tempering Realm strength.]

[In this world, martial artists were revered. The stronger you were, the more people respected you, and the easier it was to get things done.]

[However, when the magistrate saw the red hair on your head, he recognized you on the spot.]

["Could you be the Red-Haired Demon Slayer?"]

[Hearing this title from someone else's mouth felt like someone shouting your internet screen name in the middle of the street.]

["Ahem, exactly."]

["Oh my, the good name of the Red-Haired Hero has even reached my ears here in Baiyun County!

I heard you slay three hundred demons a year, making you even more formidable than the regional Demon Slaying Departments!

Even the official gazettes distributed by the imperial court mentioned that His Majesty brought you up in front of the high officials of the Demon Slaying Department!

He said that if there is someone among the common folk who slays demons so efficiently, why do the regional Demon Slaying Departments only report a few demon-slaying cases a year?"]

[You didn't expect that a mere Soul Tempering Realm martial artist like yourself would be known to everyone, from the local government offices all the way up to the imperial court.]

[It turned out that getting famous in ancient society was quite easy.]

[You steered the conversation back to the main topic and asked about your Third Sister's residence.]

["Is that so? Then Old Madam Chen Yun is your Third Sister?"]

[Old Madam?]

[True, Third Sister was three years older than you, which made her fifty years old now.]

[Based on the average lifespan of an ordinary person, that was considered a ripe old age, so she was indeed an Old Madam.]

[The magistrate hurriedly ordered the chief clerk to check, and the records were quickly found.]

["Chen Yun sold the courtyard she inherited from Shen Qingshan five years ago, and she now lives with her daughter in Huowang Village within our county."]

["Inherited from Shen Qingshan? What happened to this Shen Qingshan?"]

[The magistrate kicked the chief clerk aside and personally explained it to you, looking as though he really wanted to get on your good side.]

["I know about this matter. It must have been ten years ago when I had just taken office in Baiyun County for a few months..."]

[According to the magistrate.]

[On that day, two flying martial artists appeared in Baiyun County, and they landed directly in Shen Qingshan's home.]

[They seemed to chat for a while, but no one else could get within five hundred meters of their house, so no one knew what they talked about.]

[Afterward, someone saw Shen Qingshan being taken away by those two martial artists, flying up into the sky.]

["Flew where?"]

["Into the sky."]

["Which direction?"]

["Into the sky."]

["..."]

[After repeatedly confirming, you were certain that it was indeed up into the sky.]

[Shen Qingshan was actually taken up into the sky!]

Outside the simulation, Chen Yi opened his mouth wide.

At this very moment, he was separated from Shen Qingshan by just a single wall, and could even hear Shen Qingshan's snoring.

"Is my Third Brother-in-law... an immortal??"

Chen Yi didn't know what else lived in the sky besides immortals.

His Third Brother-in-law's identity was probably quite extraordinary.

But it was highly likely that he himself hadn't even realized it.

[The magistrate led a team of fifty official runners, along with a professional gong and drum troupe, beating gongs and sounding drums as they guided you to Huowang Village.]

[He assumed you were tired from slaying demons out in the world and were returning home in glory.]

[So he prepared a grand procession for you.]

[You didn't say much.]

[It wasn't that you particularly liked this tacky pageantry, but rather you felt you could use the opportunity to build up some prestige for your Third Sister.]

[You still had to continue adventuring in this world until the moment you died of old age.]

[Meanwhile, your Third Sister and her family could only live in the small Baiyun County; she needed some protection.]

[When you arrived at Huowang Village, a group of local ruffians and hooligans were running rampant through the village.]

[They were the thugs of an old landlord, violently collecting rent.]

[If any family couldn't pay, they would be dragged out by these thugs and brutally beaten in public to serve as a warning to the others.]

[Afterward, their homes would be emptied by the ruffians, and there would even be cases of sons and daughters being sold off.]

[Among the bullied villagers, you spotted your Third Sister, as well as a young woman who bore some resemblance to Chen Yun in her youth, likely your now-grown niece.]

[They were also tenant farmers who couldn't pay the land rent and were currently being publicly beaten by the landlord's thugs.]

[The magistrate, observing your expression, saw your face darken and immediately declared on the spot.]

["Red-Haired Hero, please calm yourself. Leave this to me!"]

[Seeing the appearance of the official runners, the landlord's thugs remained arrogant, because they knew their landlord master had connections with the officials, and they had never skimped on paying their dues.]

["Isn't this the great and just magistrate? What wind blew you here?"]

[Without a second word, the magistrate lifted the hem of his official robes and issued an order on the spot.]

["Seize these scoundrels who oppress the villagers! Exile them to the military frontier!"]

[The fifty official runners swarmed forward. Under the threat of the intimidation clubs, the ruffians finally panicked.]

["Great and just magistrate! We're working for Landlord Zhang! If you won't spare us for our sake, at least do it for his!"]

[The magistrate was extremely unyielding.]

["No matter who comes today, it won't save you!"]

[Having said that, he went to Chen Yun's side, personally helped her up, and escorted her to your side.]

["Red-Haired Hero, this must be your Third Sister."]

[Even after thirty years, Chen Yun recognized you at a single glance.]

["Fourth Brother, all these years... have you been well?"]